An American medical professor, who was due to appear before the committee on the Eighth Amendment, has branded it a "kangaroo court".

Professor Marty McCaffrey, who is a pro-life activist, had been invited to given his perspective on the issue.

However, late last night he said testifying would be pointless, because the committee has already voted not to retain the Eighth Amendment in full.

Professor McCaffrey thinks the committee missed out on hearing important medical evidence.

He said: "There's lots of evidence from the other side about the injur and the damage that would be done by abortion not only for women, but also to infants that would be aborted, but also for future infants who would be born prematurely that that committee never got a chance to hear.

"That testimony and that medical evidence which is well documented in the scientific literature never came out."

Over €1m has been awarded by the High Court to a group of Portuguese workers who claimed they lived in "terrible conditions" at a "work camp” in Tipperary when they were building a section of the N7 motorway in 2007 and 2008.